Uniting Art, Food and Drink: New 10 Degrees Space Opens on Capitol Hill

During the artisan bread craze of the last milennium, several bakeries sprung up around town to cater to Seattle's hip discovery that bread could actually have a texture. As with all such fads, the tide eventually receded, leaving various bakeries stranded in its wake. One of these was the renowned La Panzanella on 14th Avenue and East Union Street. The building that formerly housed the bakery has lain in a state of benign neglect, a curiosity one drives by while heading past Seattle University toward Madison Park.

Fortunately it has been rescued from obscurity and re-development. KT Niehoff, artistic director of Lingo Productions, has converted the former bakery into a new performance art space called 10 Degrees. Ms. Niehoff devised the idea for 10 Degrees while working with Texas-based artist and teacher Sarah Gamblin on a workshop for professional dancers.

For most performance artists in Seattle, the interminable dilemma that accompanies their craft is the issue of space. There is never enough, and that lack of space has only grown over the past decade. As performance works require space not only in which to rehearse but also to recreate as an aesthetic quality, the promise of having a space in which to create continuously and without interruption is extraordinary. "I created 10 Degrees so artists and their creative processes can move in and settle down," writes Ms. Niehoff.

10 Degrees exists not only for performances but also as a space to host artists in long-term residencies. The prospects are numerous. Site-specific works become easily possible. Traveling artists, too, will ghave a chance to practice their art without wondering where it will ultimately wind up. Additionally, Ms. Niehoff plans on hosting private events that will finance the costs of the space itself as well as the costs of the artists-in-residence.

Furthermore, the building that hosts 10 Degrees will also host the Oola Distillery, Restaurant Zoe and a new Chinese restaurant, Lucky 8. Ms. Niehoff, who owns the lease on the entire complex, believes that the commercial side of the building will create a circle in which food and drink will not only support art but in which art will also support food and drink.

It is certainly an ambitious project. One must certainly admire the chutzpah involved in such a venture, especially in a city which steadfastly refuses to admit that ambition is a valuable component of either art or commerce. How well it works and what lessons it can teach remain to be seen, but Ms. Niehoff is optimistic. And why not?